Skip to main content

tv   Rock Center With Brian Williams  NBC  October 25, 2012 10:00pm-11:00pm PDT

10:00 pm
- it's november 8th. - yes, well, these girls didn't get a chance to go trick or treating so somewhere in this house there is some candy. why don't you find it and we'll get right out of your hair. - all right, hold on one second. - you having fun, ladies? both: yeah! - all right, i got some, uh, calcium chews and, uh, a roll of cookie dough. - okay, what do you say, girls? both: thank you! - tremendous. appreciate it. tonight on a special "rock center" -- >> this is the first stop a rare look behind the scenes on our 48th hour fly-around marathon. >> one-on-one with the president. >> why not visit israel as president? we go on the road.
10:01 pm
we fly through the air. we see who shows up. ♪ >> it's getting frantic out there in the final days. how is it that with what, 13 days to go, you are fighting for your life? >> we always knew this was going to be a close race from the start. >> also, tonight, the devastating case against lance armstrong. >> if people are looking for truth and prepared to listen to the truth, it all could have stopped then. >> we hear for the first time for from two women who tell us they tried for years to expose armstrong's drug use but intimidation and deceit protected the hero in the yellow jersey. >> lance used a number of different words to describe you. >> ugly, fat, obsessed. >> what words would you use to describe lance armstrong. >> lance is the biggest fraud in the history of sports. >> that and more as "rock center" gets underway. 3 f2
10:02 pm
que palabras utilizarías para romney campaigns asking for access time on the road, ride along access to the traveling campaign in the final days. while the romney camp is still considering our request, tonight we bring you a look at what it's like inside the president's campaign for president. this latest trip that we were on, an all-nighter last night, is just wrapping up late tonight. he has covered eight states in just about 39 hours, crisscrossing the country for almost 8,000 miles. we spent much of the last two days with him, living on air force one as he makes his case to be able to ride around in that plane and continue in the presidency for four more years. our journey began first thing yesterday morning. 7:59 a.m., air force one was rolled out of its hangar in the dark, filled with supplies, enough for the stops we're making today.
10:03 pm
we just got word the president is about two minutes from liftoff from the white house lawn on board marine one. the helicopter will land forward of the 747. he will walk to the front stairs. as soon as he is on board and the door is closed, we will start rolling to takeoff. 10:15 a.m. eastern time, the usual collection of dignitaries awaiting the president at the base of the stairs. the limousine door propped open as the motorcade loads up to the first location. our first stop, illinois but that's just because it is the nearest airport to davenport, iowa. the motorcade brings the interstate to a stop which has become a modern day security reality. then, we arrive at the fairgrounds and then you notice what has happened this time around. this is not '08. the crowds aren't the same. the energy isn't the same norris the candidate. this time, he is the incumbent,
10:04 pm
fighting for his job and in the intervening years, the nation has been through an economic shock. while we're on the road, the news goes on. the libya story won't go away. donald trump having been forced to abandon his effort to prove the president was born overseas now says he wants to see the president's college records. >> the second term for press. [ applause ] ♪ >> on the road, the soundtrack of the obama campaign solidified long ago, stevie, bruce, usually some brooks and done. he joins us in a setting a campaign has accentuated with hay bales in case anyone misses the point we are in iowa. we begin with the national poll numbers. neck and neck ever since his
10:05 pm
lackluster performance at the first debate. >> i don't think this is unusual. in debate settings, you are going to have good nights and bad nights. you have a bad night. keep in mind, there wasn't anything i said in that debate that wasn't true. there wasn't anything that changed the fact that we have to focus on making sure we are creating good manufacturing jobs in this country and that manufacturing growth is the highest since 1990s. it continues to be the case that governor romney's numbers don't add up. it continues to be the case that we have a very specific plan for bringing down our deficit and putting people back to work. >> how is it that with what, 13 days to go, you are fighting for your life in a 47/47 race? >> well, actually, i think we always knew this was going to be a close race from the start. and what we have right now is a lead that we've maintained throughout this campaign. we are going to just continue to
10:06 pm
drive home the message that there are two fundamentally different choices in this election, about where we take the country. >> what's the dynamic like between you and mitt romney? >> i think when you are candidates and you haven't really interacted before, you can't say that you have got a real relationship there. perhaps after i win, the governor wants to continue to be engaged in public life and we will have a chance of getting to know each other better. prior to the election, the only time that we had interacted was at a gridiron dinner when i had just been elected senator and he was a governor. he was pretty funny, actually. i was too. >> a short motorcade later and we are crammed into antonella's pizza, sandwiched between boozie's bar and a vacant storefront with a sign urging would-be renters to call betty. >> you were at the homecoming.
10:07 pm
>> how did you know that? >> i do my homework. >> it is a meal with a table full of hand-selected companions, a campaign staple designed to look like a total surprise. while it is possible to be stopping by antonella's for a slice of pizza in davenport, iowa, and see the president of the united states. once the president is close, very little is left to chance, down to where he sits, what he eats and who he dines with. while he is seated inside, outside, the news continues. an arrest of a person of interest wanted in connection with the benghazi raid. something happens on this trip that didn't happen four years ago. from the motorcade, the leader of the free world, commander in chief of all u.s. forces says over twitter, the folks i just met over pizza in iowa are exactly why i love coming to this state. thanks for always making me feel at home. barack obama. another two-hour flight and we are in denver.
10:08 pm
there is a woman dressed as big bird and there is that line the president is using more and more. >> it might be romnesia. if you come down with a case of romnesia, it covers pre-existing conditions. >> how did that go, mr. president? >> great. >> afterwards, with his armored motorcade creeping along behind us, we have another chance to talk and the talk turns to foreign policy. >> mr. president, since we have been airborne, a person or persons of interest picked up in tunesia in connection with benghazi, the question is, have you been happy with the intelligence, especially in our post 1911 world? the assessment of your intelligence community was it was a spontaneous terrorist attack and were you happy with what you were able to learn as this unfolded. it went on for several hours.
10:09 pm
>> as i said, brian, we are going to do a full investigation. obviously, when four americans are killed, you have to do some soul searching in terms of making sure that all our systems are where they need to be. that's what we are going to find out. but what i'm confident about is that we will be able to figure out who perpetrated this act. that we will be able to bring them to justice and we are confident we have the cooperation of the libyan government. we are going to continue to make sure that we figure out what this was coming and when, how was it gathered, how was it analyzed. and my expectation is that as a consequence, we are going to be able to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. >> why not visit israel as president? >> well, the truth of the matter is, there are a number of countries i didn't visit. i visited israel just a couple
10:10 pm
of months before i was president. given how important i think the situation in the middle east is and our partnership with israel, which is stronger than it has ever been, when i go to israel, i want to make sure that we are actually moving something forward. >> finally, what has happened to you in the course of this campaign? you have said more than once, this is your last campaign. aides report you have been verging on wistful. has it come up within your family, the possibly of a post presidency as a young man. >> the truth of the matter is, in my family, what we are thinking about is making sure malia and sasha are doing their homework. we are not spending a lot of time of thinking about a post press den sichlt presidency. i intend to be president for another four years. there will be plenty of time over the next four years to consider how i can be a productive citizen in a post
10:11 pm
presidency. >> from denver, it is off to l.a. and what's become another campaign ritual, the late night comedy shows. tonight, it is jay leno who asks about that donald trump dust-up and the president is clearly ready. >> what's the thing with trump and you? it is like me and letterman. what's he got against you? i don't get it. >> this all dates back to when we were growing up together in kenya. [ applause ] >> from l.a. to sin city, las vegas, a rally in a community park in a poor neighborhood. katy perry shows up, photos are taken. she performs wearing a dress that is also a ballot marked for obama. she is joined on the stage by her grandmother, a nevada resident for 50 years. ♪ >> then, the president arrives. >> hello, nevada!
10:12 pm
>> meanwhile, just offstage, senior campaign adviser, david flood tells me the campaign is all too aware of how tight this race is right now. >> the romney campaign is calling this trip on your part an act of desperation. they are saying they are thrilled with the numbers. you guys are acting like you always expected it to be 47-47 with 13, 12 days left. >> we did. america is a closely divided country. we knew we weren't going to get the same 53% of the vote we got in 2008. this is a race we prepared for. here is the great thing. in 13 days, there will be no more bluffing. one of us is right and one of us is wrong about our position in the race. i have a great deal of confidence that 13 days from now, maybe this time or later, president obama will be elected for the second term. >> just when it seems like we are on our way to the airport, we are not done. another spontaneous but
10:13 pm
carefully planned stop, this time at the bellage yo casino. not the casino floor but the employee cafeteria. these employees are members of the food and beverage workers union, a politically powerful force in nevada. >> we are fighting for you every single day. >> we are fighting for you z it is 2:00 in the morning eastern time. we are now leaving through the bowels of the kitchen of a las vegas casino. it turns out what happens in vegas, doesn't last the but too long on this trip. nothing does. now, we board again for the flight east. the only night sleep anyone is going to get and only one passenger on this plane gets to lie down in a bed. everybody else will sleep sitting up. in the morning, we'll arrive in florida. that's where we will pick up the story. that's where we will pick up the campaign when "rock center" continues after this.
10:14 pm
but we can guarantee that petsmart grooming... ...will make your dog look great! try us today. with the petsmart grooming look great guarantee, you're happy... or it's free. petsmart®. happiness in store.™
10:15 pm
10:16 pm
10:17 pm
welcome back. we left you on the tarmac in las vegas about to get back on air force one where as you'll see we have to speak very quietly.
10:18 pm
after this day spent traveling west, now we pick up on the campaign on the way east. >> good evening, air force one. >> so we begin day two of this obama campaign trip, which is really just a continuation of day one. it is now exactly 3:00 a.m. on the east coast. we are flying fast from las vegas east to florida for the first event of the day, which is just a few hours away. just about everybody on this aircraft is now asleep. that would include the president in his far forward cabin. as far as most of his campaign aides can remember, that's the first time he has done this on a domestic flight. >> because air force one makes better time than commercial jets, we landed before we knew it. >> if it is thursday, it must be tampa where we have arrived in
10:19 pm
the dark right at 7:00 in the morning. ♪ >> another motorcade snaking its way down the highway. this time, to a first stop at a crispy cream in tampa. >> there you go. >> the president bought several boxes of doughnuts, which he then gave out at a second stop, a tampa firehouse. ♪ >> we love you, obama! >> then, on to the event, a rather compact outdoor park that made the crowd of several thousand look even larger. a sampling of some of the folks in the back of the crowd underscored how different 2012 feels compared to '08. >> this time around, i'm nervous. i hope he makes it. >> i feel like some of my friends that were solid obama last time are more on the fence this time. >> it's at this point when our cameras spot white house press
10:20 pm
secretary, jay carney, having fun briefly. campaigning is hard on the traveling staff and presidents have to travel with two complete sets, staffers from the white house and the campaign, kept separate like church and state. jen sacki is the campaign press secretary. >> do you have any fear that something horrible will happen today and the leader of the free world has had three hours of sleep? >> you know, he is pretty good with a lack of sleep. he is a night owl and he has had a lot of nights and days with little sleep before. i think he will make it through. >> 10:02 a.m., air force one is enroute to richmond, virginia. by the time of our third interview with the president during our trip, this time, a conversation that took place in his office on the aircraft, we took on the topic that came up once again this week during an indiana senate debate. >> mr. president, the subject of rape has been in the public discourse this campaign year
10:21 pm
unlike any time i can remember it in american public life. you were asked about it last night. you have inserted a line in your speech i-noted, about women's health. is that as far as you are comfortable going for now? >> let me be very clear. these attempts to redefine rape in some way make no sense to me. i don't think they make sense to the vast majority of women across the country but more broadly, i think what these episodes point to is the fact that you don't want politicians, the majority of them male, making serious decisions about women's health care issues, whether we are talking about contraception, whether we are talking about funding for planned parenthood. whether we are talking about the supreme court and roe v wade, whether we are talking about various other efforts to suggest
10:22 pm
that women can't make capable decisions. none of that i think makes sense. frankly, i think most people thought that a lot of these debates were well behind us. >> if you could fix either the electoral college or the fact that we are going to spend $1 billion electing a president and lord knows what cancer cure that might have started us down the road on, which would you do most urgently if you had unlimited powers? >> i think that's an easy choice. i think the amount of money that is being spent in my campaign and mr. romney's campaign and the superpacs that that are out there is ridiculous. as you will recall, when the citizens united decision came out, i took a fairly unusual step of saying this was bad for our democracy in a state of the union speech. i continue to believe that.
10:23 pm
finally and mercifully for us, because there is work to do back home in new york, we are leaving here. this trip goes on without us from here in virginia. the president still goes on to illinois and ohio. on that trip home to chicago late today, the white house was proud to point out the president made history by becoming the first president ever to vote early. >> thank you, mr. president. >> brian, i'm going to give you one more minute just to say this. >> earlier, however, on air force one, right when our time was up and the interview was supposed to end, the president asked to keep going. he ran through what's become his pitch, his list of principles in the current campaign ad that is airing but then he also wanted to address how this all must look from the outside. >> it's funny. you learn things about being on the campaign trail. you are in air force one. you are in marine one, these big motorcades. michelle jokes that i have got
10:24 pm
everything but a caboose and a dog sled behind me wherever i am driving. none of that is the presidency. the presidency is all about whose going to fight for the american people every single day even when you have got to make tough decisions that are unpopular, because you have some compass about what this country can be. during the course of these four years, there are all kinds of mistakes that i have made every single day but my compass has been true and i've focused on what is going to be best for the american people. >> that was, by the way, just part of our whirlwind, eight-state trip with the president as this campaign goes down to the wire and again we have made the very same request of the traveling romney campaign in these closing days. up next here tonight on our broadcast, some new reporting about lance armstrong. tonight, harry smith talks to
10:25 pm
the women who first blew the whistle on his doping at great personal cost. >> i wasn't quiet from the very beginning. so i'm not going to lie for him. hell, i wouldn't even lie for my own husband. i'm not going to lie for lance armstrong. armstrong. all eyes, right here. this is our year. i thought it was last year... turns out i was wrong. none of us would walk in here and settle. that's how we are! i forgot what i was going to say. patrick, i want 100% commitment! because i care man, ok? who are we!? 49ers! 49ers! 49ers! yeah! [ all cheering ] what the heck is going on in here? sorry coach, i just got a little carried away. alright, i think we're good. [ morgan ] for a chance to be in a locker room on game day and more... join visa nfl fan offers and make your season epic. on game day and more... load up now during sears days lowest prices, ending saturday. get $9.99 fleece and 50% off this craftsman mechanic's tool set. plus, buy 3 tires, get one free.
10:26 pm
this is packed with deals. this is sears there's no such whthing as too soft.let paper, i know what i like. i like feeling both clean and pampered. why should i compromise? quilted northern ultra plush®, with the innerlux layer. for a comfortable, confident clean, or your money back. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.
10:27 pm
andreu is you are watching "rock center." we are live in studio 3-b. we are going to hear from two women who spoke about lance armstrong back before people were willing to listen.
10:28 pm
♪ ♪ ♪ go now for olive garden's new dinner today, dinner tomorrow. two dinners for two nights just $12.95. choose one of five entrees tonight. then take home a different entrée for tomorrow. two nights of deliciousness for just $12.95! go olive garden. [ sad music playing ] [ knock on door ] your bags, sir. both: finally! one taste, and you'll understand. enjoy dunkin' donuts coffee anytime. pick some up where you buy groceries.
10:29 pm
welcome back. after making history in his
10:30 pm
sport and becoming a global icon, the public downfall of lance armstrong is now all but complete. his seven tour de france victories have now been erased. there is no winner now listed. las week he was dropped by major sponsors and stepped down as the head of the charity he founded. if this is some kind of greek tragedy, tonight we meet two prophets, both women who long ago tried to expose armstrong's sophisticated doping program. they suffered years of intimidation and abuse just for telling the truth. tonight, they join harry smith to set the record straight. >> lance used a number of different words to describe you over the years. do you remember some of them? >> unhinged, crazy, ugly, fat, obsessed, jealous, hateful, vindictive. he never called me a liar. he never called me a liar.
10:31 pm
>> what words would you use to describe lance armstrong? >> bernie madoff. sad. vengeful. >> why bernie madoff? >> because bernie madoff was one of the biggest frauds in the history of the world in the history of finance maybe. lance is the biggest fraud in the history of sports. >> we met betsy andreu near her hometown in michigan. she was once part of lance armstrong's inner circle and one of his best friends. >> they make a nice couple, huh? >> this is the three of them during happier time. armstrong is on the right. their falling out with armstrong years ago brought tension and exhaustion to the andreu household. she agreed to talk but not at
10:32 pm
her home. >> when you found out lance had cancer, what was your reaction? >> disbelief. it was unbelievable that an athlete so young, somebody in such good shape had cancer. there was a great sorrow there as well. >> so you and franky, you and your husband go to see him in the hospital. what happened at the hospital? >> franky and i just got engaged six weeks before. we spent as much time as we could, from morning to evening, with lance in the hospital. >> during one visit, she heard something she knew she could never forget. >> doctors began to ask him a few questions and then, boom, have you ever used any performance-enhancing drugs? lance, holding his i.v.
10:33 pm
nonchalantly rattled off, steroid, testosterone, growth who a hormone. my eyes popped out of my head. franky saw that i was upset. we excused ourselves and left. >> a world away in a village near manchester, england lives another woman who knew too much for lance armstrong. for four years before he won his first tour de france, irish emma o'reilly was with his racing team meaning she cooked, washed clothes and gave massages to the exhausted cyclist. >> one of the things lance has said so often is that i have never had a positive drug test but he did test positive for cortisone at one point. your in the circle as the conversation is going on as to what to do about it. what did lance say he wanted to do? >> what he agreed to do was the kind of obvious thing and the only thing, back date the
10:34 pm
prescription so that it technically started before the tour started so that he had already been taking cortisone. the french paper we're about to write a story the following day about it, which is why we had to get that back dated prescription that night. >> and people bought it? >> people bought it. there was a certain irony, because he failed the first drug test he took at the prologue, at start of the very first of the seven tour de frances. it all could have -- if people had been looking for the truth and prepared to listen to the truth then, it all could have stopped then. >> by the time armstrong was racking up his third tour victory, david walsh, a reporter for the sunday times in london, was convinced armstrong was cheating. he tracked down emma o'reilly and betsy andreu. >> he calls up and says, i want to talk to you.
10:35 pm
>> i thought, if i can help david walsh and if there cob a way to clean up the sport, then so about it. i will talk to him. he wanted to tell the truth. so why wouldn't i speak with him. >> you were going to implicate lance armstrong in drug use and this is a guy who was best friends with your husband? >> you see this fraud being perpetuated. it was just getting worse and worse and worse. so should i sit back? i wasn't quiet from the very beginning. i am not going to lie for him. hell, i wouldn't even lie for my own husband. i'm not going to lie for lance armstrong. >> you leave. several years go by and you get a call from david walsh. >> yeah. >> how did he convince you to talk? >> i convinced me. i think he managed, maybe because he was irish, he managed to click in to the whole, when
10:36 pm
you are brought up catholic, by not telling the truth, that's a form of lying, because by saying nothing, you are protecting the lie. by protecting the lie, you are lying. >> you were getting ready to burn a bridge. >> yeah. >> that you would never be able to go back across. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. i felt kind of close to the man and you do feel disloyal even though you tell the truth. you kind of are being disloyal to your ex colleagues. >> o'reilly was wrestling with telling her story to david walsh. death of a renown italian bike racer, marco pantanni made clear what he should do. >> he overdosed in a hole tell room in milan, which per sons phied all the issues i had. i thought, these men are taking drugs to help their bike racing. they are taking drugs to break that feel.
10:37 pm
he just personified everything that does go wrong. i thought, you know, emma, you need to let david have the story. you need to do the right thing. >> betsy and emma's stories were included in walsh's book, l.a. confidential, which was published in france in 2004. >> we are sick and tired of these allegations. we are going to do everything we can to fight them. they are absolutely untrue. we have filed action in england. we have filed action in france. we have gotten everybody involved. enough is enough. >> armstrong's lawyers even filed a personal lawsuit against emma o'reilly. >> then what happens? >> then my life changed from a nice, calm peaceful one to one that you almost feel like you are on the run. >> like you are on the run? >> like i'm on the run, because you feel like you are under soon siege and you have been terrorized.
10:38 pm
i was sued and they named myself and david as co-defendants. i was sued for 1 million pounds. >> you get sued? >> for how much money? >> 1 million pounds. all of the sudden, i'm like, even if i sold everything i possibly had, if i could raise everything i could, i wouldn't even touch either of those. my assets didn't -- you know what i mean? it was like, what, what. all i had done was tell the truth. also then what it did mean, it effectively shut me up, because then i had to withdraw completely, because i couldn't say anything. if i did say anything, i was going to get further sued and more and more harassment. you almost felt like a terror victim. >> armstrong's legal actions effectively muz ld hzled his de tors. it was never published in english. as he was winning his seventh victory, betsy and franky were
10:39 pm
subpoenaed to testify in a civil lawsuit which resolved around whether armstrong was doping. >> we were sphene aubpoenaeds. it was a court order from the state of michigan. >> you could have lied? >> we could have lied but it would have rotted our soul. i couldn't live like that. i don't have that moral terpitude. i don't. so lying was never an option, never an option. >> doctors came into the room. >> lance was deposed in the same lawsuit. he denied betsy's account of the incident in the hospital room. >> absolutely not. that didn't happen. >> and questioned her motives. >> i have no idea why she did that, other than she hates he me. >> he also refuted everything emma o'reilly said and speculated about her reasons. >> afraid that we were going to out her as a whore or whatever.
10:40 pm
>> he asked armstrong what doping would do for his winings and financial deals? >> it is not about money for me. everything, the faith that people have put in me over the years, all of that would be erased. i don't need it to say in a contract, you are fired if you test positive. that's not as important as losing the sfoert upport of hun of millions of people. >> there were others, bike racers, who knew emma and betsy, were telling the truth. >> when we come back, a former teammate of lance armstrong addresses what betsy and emma experienced head-on. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts. more events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now?
10:41 pm
[ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. plus a valuable coupon. load up now during sears days lowest prices, ending saturday. get $9.99 fleece and 50% off this craftsman mechanic's tool set. plus, buy 3 tires, get one free. this is packed with deals. this is sears
10:42 pm
i need your help... i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. well...everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe well...i'm not at liberty to give that out, but we do use tender chunks of white meat chicken in an herb & spice broth. come on that's it? i need the recipe. you gotta help me out! [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? like a ninja! [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.
10:43 pm
10:44 pm
welcome back. as you heard earlier, two women in lance armstrong's inner circle tried to expose his sophisticated doping scheme for years but their stories were never widely heard. tonight, a former teammate of lance armstrong says they
10:45 pm
absolutely should have been. here once again is harry smith. >> for the longest time, lance armstrong kept winning and winning. tyler hamilton raced with him and against him. >> he and his brand just got bigger and bigger and bigger. he got so big and four full i thought this is -- it will never come down. the truth will never come out, the real truth. >> tyler hamilton's career was ruined by the use of performance-enhancing drugs. he tells all in a new book out this fall and implicates lance armstrong. the course of confessions that brought armstrong down started long ago with lone voices of two women, betsy andrew and emma o'reilly. >> emma o'reilly, she was in the thick of it. she saw a lot of the things that were going on within the team. for her to come out, that was huge.
10:46 pm
for betsy andreu to keep fighting, she has never backed down from the power of the armstrong camp. >> myself and betsy, we were kind of the unattractive face of cycling. the seven-time tour de france winner is much more attractive to look at rather than two women going, they are doping. what would you prefer to watch, the tour de france or two women saying there are drugs in cycling. >> two crazy women. >> two crazy women. >> i prayed a lot. i prayed a lot. i have prayer cards to saint teresa that are tattered. i just wanted the truth out with god's blessing, just with god's blessing. i wanted the truth out because i was being ex core reeighted when i told the truth and two, there
10:47 pm
is a bigger picture here. this is huge in the history of sport. shouldn't it be revealed? shouldn't the truth be told? shouldn't the truth matter? it was rough. >> there had to be days when it sure didn't seem like the truth mattered. >> there were a lot of days. a lot of days. the reason why i told the truth were my kids. it was better for me to be vilified for telling the truth instead of celebrated for living a lie. so my kids can look and they can say, i'm proud of my mom. >> without betsy and without emma o'reilly, i don't think we would be where we are today. the whole sport owes those two individuals a lot. they are champions. they are champions.
10:48 pm
they are heroes. >> that is very nice. i would never probably in anything see myself as the pivotal role in much. now that the riders backed up my story, i see myself as less insane. you start thinking and question your judgment. >> allegations kept lapping up against lance armstrong for the longest time. why didn't the worldcom to understand what you understood or what betsy andreu understood? >> there is none so blind than those that don't want to see. people didn't want to see. also, the media around lance, they didn't want. they didn't help. they were quite happy to sit and write. >> without a doubt, lance armstrong was a bonafide american hero and an international superstar. >> it is a fairy tale which continues and continues and will continue because you won't keep this man out of the headlines once he stops riding his bike. he will find some other way in.
10:49 pm
>> did the media fail? >> do you think the media failed? >> sure looks like it. >> everybody wanted the interviews with lance. they didn't care about the other guys, really. they wanted the interviews with lance. so in order to get the interview with lance, you couldn't ask lance the hard questions. >> and she made it personal. >> you looking at me. >> i am. >> but you are redeeming yourself now, right? >> see if there is atonement out there. >> harry smith here with us. >> first of all, lance armstrong is invited on this broadcast any time he wishes to sit down and talk about this. what did he say when we contacted him? >> we've been talking to his people for days. they said, this is ancient news. said, the people we interviewed here on this broadcast have all been discredited. that was the word they used.
10:50 pm
oh, by the way, emma o'reilly was paid for her participation in this david walsh book. we asked emma about that today. she said, i did have long conversation with david walsh. i ended up as a researcher on the book i was paid a total of 5,000 pounds. that's about $10,000. >> am i going out on a limb having just met these women through your story saying they seem to be absolutely spectacular people, each of them for their own reasons. >> i think that goes without saying and for those of us who were around the story a lot and some of us did ask lance armstrong through the years, did you dope? his answer was always the same. i'm the most tested athlete in the history of my sport. look at the records. for a lot of us, that was enough. we chose not, i think, to go back to find the emmas and the betsys. >> is that why you feel atonement, that you didn't ask a follow-up? >> i won't ever be in the neighborhood of atonement but i
10:51 pm
think to be able to go back and let these women be heard and to see the price they paid for telling the stories they did and to witness their courage is important. >> what an extraordinary story this continues to be. harry smith, thank you very much. >> up next after a break, the road to the white house that leads straight through late night television these days. no . dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. flexpen® is insulin delivery... my way. levemir® (insulin detemir [rdna origin] injection) is a long-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes and is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. do not use levemir® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. the most common side effect is low blood sugar,
10:52 pm
which may cause symptoms such as sweating, shakiness, confusion, and headache. severe low blood sugar can be serious and life threatening. ask your healthcare provider about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. other possible side effects include injection site reactions. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, such as body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, or sweating. with flexpen®... say good night to vial and syringe. ask your doctor about levemir® flexpen. covered by 90% of insurance plans, including medicare. find your co-pay at myflexpen.com.
10:53 pm
i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu.
10:54 pm
tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.
10:55 pm
finally, here tonight, of all the campaign stops that went into the day, we spent with the traveling white house yesterday, the day that became an all-nighter, one stop, last night in l.a., was all about show business unabash edly, something that's become a standard stop for the president and an easy way to reach a big audience. >> it has become so standard, it seems like some kind of requirement. >> hi, everybody. >> if you are running for president, you are almost expected to appear on late night comedy shows and with luck, the candidates get to appear human.
10:56 pm
>> that is how we slow jam the news. >> oh, yeah! >> so it now seems perfectly normal to see the leader of the free world and those who aspire to be with jay and jimmy and dave and john and on snl. >> oh! >> barack obama has made a habit of appearing on tv after 11 p.m., five times on jay leno alone. >> the president is real. i sat next to harrison ford but he only played the president. >> get off my plane. >> this is the actual president. you know, it is really excited. >> the approval of the host seems to matter to the politicians. mitt romney, a veteran of "the view" and jay leno recently made it clear he is acutely aware that somebody else is not a fan. >> i have been on letterman a couple of times and leno more than a couple of times and now letterman hates me because i have been on leno more than him. >> last night in l.a. after the
10:57 pm
president had gone and our cameras caught up with jay leno backstage, he told us these visits really do serve a valuable purpose for the viewers. >> you get to ask questions and it's fun because sometimes on these kind of shows, you will get a more off the cuff answer than you might on a news show where maybe things are a little scripted, nothing personal, brian. i don't mean anything. you do a fine show. >> all right, jay, thank you. no offense taken. our thanks to jay leno for letting our cameras hang around backstage with all that was going on in los angeles last night. speaking of news, this trip that started what, did we say, 7:59 a.m. yesterday, has just ended while we've been on the air. the president returning tonight on air force one to andrews air force base. that's a long trip. speaking of news tonight, with he do want to let you know, we are keeping ai very close eye on what looks to be a huge atlantic storm. hurricane sandy has really exploded in strength. look at these projected paths
10:58 pm
for this storm. it will have destructive power. it has forecasters very concerned. it looks like the northeast is likely to get hit and we're going to have full coverage of the storm and these projections starting tomorrow morning on "today." next week on this broadcast, on "rock center," a story we had originally hoped to bring you this week before we had to make way for our campaign coverage, it is about what happened to this young hero. a very surprising treatment changed his life. as natalie morales reports, a video game could transform how we treat pain. >> going into snowworld. my son would be a genius as this game. >> are we gone? >> how would you rate your pain that time? >> putting the head phones on really shut everything out. so i wasn't even really aware of anything else going on but the game. >> again, such an interesting story. that's going to be a part of our broadcast next week.
10:59 pm
for now, for this week, for everyone that works so hard to bring you tonight's broadcast,

390 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on